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Carmen - Musical excerpts

Composer

Georges Bizet, original name Alexandre-César-Léopold Bizet, (born October 25, 1838, Paris, France—died June 3, 1875, Bougival, near Paris), French composer best remembered for his opera Carmen (1875)...

Stage Director

Charles Binamé is a multiple award-winning filmmaker who has directed both personal works (Eldorado, Le cœur au poing) and more mass appeal films and series (Blanche, Un homme et son péché, Maurice Richard).

Synopsis

Micaëla is searching for Corporal Don José. The girls from the cigarette factory appear; Carmen, a gypsy, mocks her admirers, then spots Don José. Despite her efforts to attract his interest, he barely raises a glance. He has loved Micaëla since childhood. Carmen provokes Don José by tossing him a flower. Micaëla reappears and gives Don José a letter from his mother recommending Micaëla for a wife. He vows to marry her.

Carmen gets into a fracas with a fellow worker at the factory. Lieutenant Zuniga assigns Don José the duty of taking Carmen to jail. But she uses her charm to captivate the timid corporal. Don José succumbs and allows her to escape. Carmen agrees to meet him later at an inn.

At this smuggler’s hideout, Escamillo, the toreador, is given a warm welcome. He notices Carmen who rejects his advances. Two of her cronies, Le Dancaïre and Le Remendado, propose a smuggling expedition and ask the gypsy women to provide a distraction for the customs officers. Carmen refuses: she waits for Don José who has been sentenced to two months in prison. He arrives, swearing that he thought only of her throughout his confinement. Lieutenant Zuniga appears and begins to fight Don José who decides to desert and go along with Carmen and her gang.

Don José keeps a tyrannical watch over Carmen, who demands independence and liberty. The gypsies lay out cards to tell fortunes. Carmen draws only spades and diamonds: a sure sign of her imminent death. Micaëla soon appears. Escamillo also arrives and attempts to win Carmen. Mad with jealousy, Don José provokes his rival into a duel, but Carmen intervenes. Micaëla tells Don José that his mother is dying and is asking for him. Don José decides to go with Micaëla, but warns Carmen of his vengeance to come.

Escamillo, hailed by the crowd, arrives with Carmen on his arm. Warned of Don José’s presence, Carmen decides to confront him. Don José attempts to persuade Carmen to come back, but his entreaties and threats fall on deaf ears. When she tries to return to the bullring, Don José bars her way and stabs her. With a heartbreaking sob, Don José cries out “You can arrest me, it is I who killed her. Ah! Carmen! My beloved Carmen!”